Kiwikirks back

It’s Thursday. This means that one week ago we had just finished hurtling through the atmosphere from one side of the world to the other to arrive in Dunedin—back home in the blogsphere. We went from sleeping in the 75—80 degree range (Fahrenheit) to the 2-6 degree range (Centigrade)…translated: going from no pajamas to long-sleeved thick shirt undershirt, light sweatpants plus socks! The first two mornings back we were treated to snow showers. This is called winter. The grit trucks (sanders) were out making the steep roads safe for workers and the delivery of school children during the first hours of the day.

[here is a bit of the trip written on the US cross-country leg of our journey]

>we left Northampton at 3:45 am (Monday, June 4th), having woken from a fitful sleep well before the alarm that was set for 3:10. how totally logical that after all the fine weather we had enjoyed during our visit ‘stateside’, this was a stormy, rainy morning.

>on the plane to LA, with our extended visit coming to an end--leaving loved ones behind once again—it seems like a good idea to start writing while all the memories are fresh and present.

>all the visits, meals with old friends, chats and lengthy conversations preceding the past weekend now seem like a well orchestrated prelude to it. for the benefit of any subset of readers not aware of this, on Saturday, June 2nd, (our final weekend) we observed and celebrated the marriage of my son Eliot VB to Ria Fuentes. it was a joyous day for the radiant bride and groom plus the large assembly of far-flung family and friends.

>in either Vermont, visiting my sister and brother-in-law, or staying with friends in NYC, I spent serious time contemplating the distinction between a ‘resident’ and a ‘visitor’. the city felt so very familiar—from the years of residence—but I am now definitely a visitor there. Our little family quickly got to feeling at home in Northampton, where we were fortunate to stay with our friends. i think Tessa and I felt like visiting residents (?) Wim & Lily took up playing with their friends just where they left off nine months ago. they were definitely not feeling like visitors….

---
On the day we arrived back in Dunedin, Lily went off to join her school orchestra for the school’s musical: ‘Rock the boat!’, the story of Noah (She did great!) We all slept 12 hours. Wim and Lily went to school the next day. Again the kids slept 12 hours. On Sunday we rejoined our best friends for fish ‘n chips. I realized that that was my first time out of the house since Thursday!

Early waking hours have resulted in numerous mental notes for access at this moment. All have faded. [I had some wonderful archetypal dreams those first long night; for instance seeing my beloved piano mentor and dear friend, Irene Grau shepherd Tom into graduate school at Berkeley…]

In addition to the wintry feel of the moment, one needs to describe what a day feels like at the moment. On a clear day, the sky starts to lighten at 7.50 am, the surrounding hills providing drama and delay. The sun suddenly finally clears the rim around 8.37! A few days ago, I went to the Uni to find a piano part to the Shostakovich Cello Concerto. I noticed that people approaching me were shading their eyes with their hands. It struck me as the bell tolled noon, that the sun was very low. If directly overhead would be 90 degrees, the sun then stood at about 15 degrees. So there you have it, the sun rises very late and slides around fairly low to the horizon until it starts to fade at around 3.

We are keeping warm, working away at music and schools but missing the warmth of loved ones far away...